List of every European Cup winner: PSG win 2026 Champions League

Updated: 30 May 2026 20:10 BST |
9 min read

Martin Macdonald
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Content writer covering football, formula 1 and movies

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The 2025/26 Champions League season has concluded with PSG winning the European Cup for the second consecutive season.

The Parisians have retained their title after beating Premier League champions Arsenal in a penalty shootout, following a 1-1 draw after extra time. Gabriel Magalhaes, who had been so reliable for the Gunners all season, missed the decisive spot-kick.

The European Cup, as it was previously known, was first contested in the 1955/56 season and Real Madrid won the final 4-3 against Reims at the Parc des Princes, Paris.

Los Blancos are synonymous with the competition and have won it 15 times. In fact, they won the first five editions of the European Cup from 1956 to 1960, defeating Reims, Fiorentina, Milan, Reims again and then Eintracht Frankfurt.

Real Madrid have more than double the amount of the second best team in European Cup history. AC Milan have won the competition seven times, while Bayern Munich and Liverpool have six each.

Only six clubs have earned the European Cup/Champions League multiple-winner badge, a privilege reserved for teams that win the tournament either three consecutive times or five times overall. These elite clubs are Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Liverpool, and Barcelona.

Originally, only the Champions of UEFA nations gained entry into the European Cup. However, a few years after the tournament was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League, second-placed clubs among some nations were permitted entry and that was subsequently expanded to third and fourth place for elite nations in 1999.

Spanish clubs have won the trophy the most (20 times), followed by England (15) and Italy (12). However, England has the highest number of different clubs to win it, with 6 different English teams lifting the trophy.

In the 2019–20 season, Bayern Munich became the first and only club in history to lift the trophy while maintaining a 100% win record, going 11-0-0. That season was also unique because it took place during the Covid pandemic and from the quarter-final stage, a mini-tournament took place in Lisbon to determine the winners, with Bayern became after beating PSG in the final.

Cristiano Ronaldo, previously of Sporting CP, Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid, has made more appearances than any player in the history of the tournament and has also scored the most goals.

Every winner of the European Cup/Champions League